Chemistry finalists | RCI Subject Awards 2026

Finalists, not winners. Each subject has ten finalist universities; each is represented by an academic and a project identified from the open scholarly record, with the paper cited so every claim can be checked. The exact positions publish with the full index on 15 September 2026 at 09:00 UK, when the awards become a headline strand of the global launch. Winners are decided by editorial review and announced on 15 September 2026. The Subject Awards are exclusive to partner universities.

The finalists

Ten universities. Ten projects. Ten academics.

Ben Zhong Tang

🇭🇰 Chinese University of Hong Kong · Corresponding author

A Sensitive and Reliable Organic Fluorescent Nanothermometer for Noninvasive Temperature Sensing

Measuring temperature inside a living cell calls for a thermometer far smaller than the cell itself. The team built one from a dual-responsive organic luminogen encapsulated in natural saturated fatty acids, whose sharp melting points and rapid reversible phase transitions translate heat into a change in fluorescence, then formulated the composite into dispersed nanoparticles for biological use.

Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2021 · 205 citations · co-authors across 2 countries

Magnus Rueping

🇸🇦 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology · Senior author

Nickel-Catalyzed Reductive Cross-Couplings: New Opportunities for Carbon-Carbon Bond Formations through Photochemistry and Electrochemistry

Forming carbon-carbon bonds by coupling two electrophiles has become a valuable synthetic tool, and this minireview surveys where it now stands. It explains the current state of the art in nickel-catalysed reductive cross-couplings and highlights the openings created by the emerging fields of photoredox catalysis and electrochemistry.

CCS Chemistry · 2021 · 219 citations · co-authors across 3 countries

Zeid A. ALOthman

🇸🇦 Professor of Chemistry and Dean, College of Science, King Saud University · Co-author

Characterization and applicability of the natural Iraqi bentonite clay for toxic cationic dye removal: Adsorption kinetic and isotherm study

Professor ALOthman leads the Advanced Materials and Chromatography Group at King Saud University, where he is Dean of the College of Science. His collaborative work with researchers in Malaysia, Iraq, Jordan and Canada characterised natural Iraqi bentonite clay as a low cost adsorbent for removing toxic cationic dyes from water, informing practical wastewater treatment.

Journal of King Saud University - Science · 2023 · 66 citations

Lingjie Sun

🇸🇬 National University of Singapore · Lead author

Creating Organic Functional Materials beyond Chemical Bond Synthesis by Organic Cocrystal Engineering

Rather than making and breaking chemical bonds, organic cocrystal engineering combines two or more molecules held together by noncovalent intermolecular interactions. The work sets out the definition and advantages of this approach to creating enhanced organic functional materials, addresses key questions about intermolecular forces and cocrystal function, and surveys recent developments in the field.

Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2021 · 221 citations · co-authors across 2 countries

Jamie A. Leitch

🇬🇧 University College London · Co-author

Fluorochemicals from fluorspar via a phosphate-enabled mechanochemical process that bypasses HF

Every fluorochemical currently traces back to hydrogen fluoride, a highly toxic and corrosive gas made from fluorspar under harsh conditions. Inspired by calcium phosphate biomineralisation, the team grind fluorspar with dipotassium hydrogen phosphate to give a solid containing crystalline phases suitable for forging sulfur-fluorine and carbon-fluorine bonds, bypassing hydrogen fluoride altogether.

Science · 2023 · 130 citations · co-authors across 2 countries

F. Dean Toste

🇺🇸 University of California, Berkeley · Corresponding author

A heterogeneous iridium single-atom-site catalyst for highly regioselective carbenoid O-H bond insertion

Spreading a precious metal across a support as isolated single atoms can combine the precision of molecular catalysis with the convenience of a solid. This work reports a heterogeneous iridium single-atom-site catalyst for carbenoid insertion into oxygen-hydrogen bonds, achieving high regioselectivity in a reaction where controlling where the bond forms is the difficulty.

Nature Catalysis · 2021 · 169 citations · co-authors across 2 countries

Clare P. Grey

🇬🇧 Geoffrey Moorhouse Gibson Professor of Chemistry, University of Cambridge · Co-author

Revisiting metal fluorides as lithium-ion battery cathodes

Professor Dame Clare Grey applies nuclear magnetic resonance and diffraction methods to battery materials. Her multi-institution study with colleagues at Manchester, Rutgers and Oxford revisited metal fluoride cathodes for lithium-ion batteries, showing that lithiation proceeds by diffusion controlled displacement rather than reconstructive phase transitions, guiding the design of higher capacity electrodes.

Nature Materials · 2021 · 212 citations

Vivian Wing‐Wah Yam

🇭🇰 University of Hong Kong · Corresponding author

Toward the Design and Construction of Supramolecular Functional Molecular Materials Based on Metal-Metal Interactions

Supramolecular materials assemble themselves through noncovalent forces such as hydrogen bonding, and metal-metal interactions have emerged as an unconventional addition to that toolkit. Exploring how these interactions can guide the design and construction of self-assembled metal-based materials with rich spectroscopic functionalities, the work aims to stimulate new research directions despite the challenge of controlling such hierarchical architectures.

Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2022 · 134 citations · co-authors across 2 countries

Martin Schröder

🇬🇧 University of Manchester · Corresponding author

Analysis and Refinement of Host-Guest Interactions in Metal-Organic Frameworks

Metal-organic frameworks are porous crystalline materials whose adjustable pores make them promising for gas adsorption and separation, substrate binding and catalysis, applications relevant to climate change, energy and pollution. Analysing and refining the host-guest interactions within these frameworks, the work shows how precisely engineered pore environments can be understood and improved.

Accounts of Chemical Research · 2023 · 135 citations · co-authors across 2 countries

Veronique Gouverneur

🇬🇧 Waynflete Professor of Chemistry, University of Oxford · Co-author

Fluorochemicals from fluorspar via a phosphate-enabled mechanochemical process that bypasses HF

Waynflete Professor of Chemistry at Oxford, Veronique Gouverneur pioneers sustainable fluorine chemistry. Working with collaborators at UCL and Colorado State University, her team converted fluorspar directly into a solid fluorinating reagent through a phosphate enabled mechanochemical process, bypassing hazardous hydrogen fluoride and opening safer routes to pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals and battery fluorochemicals.

Science · 2023 · 133 citations

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